Alibaba launches US$1.5 billion fund to help fight poverty in China

At a conference attended by the company’s 36 partners at its headquarters in Hangzhou, executive chairman Jack Ma announced it would set up the Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund, with the money to be donated over the next five years.

The company has set philanthropy as part of its strategic goals and will establish a “supporting coordination system” to push the cause of reducing poverty – including assigning its top executives to lead a specific programme to help farmers.

China has already lifted more than 500 million people out of poverty after three decades of economic reforms on the mainland and President Xi Jinping has made it a policy priority with a plan to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020.

Poverty in China is defined as having an annual income below 3,000 yuan (US$450) at current prices.